Long-term sales of Coast beech frozen

Press, 20 December 1985, Page 2

Long-term sales of Coast beech frozen

PA Wellington The Minister of Forests, Mr Wetere, has shelved long-term sale of West Coast beech, according to a statement from the Forest Service yesterday. The responsibilities of the new Department of Conservation and the Forestry Corporation are to be clearly identified first.

The Director-General of Forests, Mr Andy Kirkland, said further sale moves must wait until evaluation by the board of directors of the new corporation. The sale was for 150,000 cubic metres a year for five years of beech sawlogs and industrial quality wood from the Reefton area. There was to be right of renewal for another five

years. Two proposals were received which would use the total volume of wood, but the companies involved expressed concern over future management of native forest. “In the meantime, the Forest Service will negotiate a sale of 50,000 cubic metres of beech chipwood for one year,” Mr Kirkland said. This would come from forests zoned for production in the Reefton area. The sale would make the logging more efficient and increase financial benefits, he added. All log sales from Stateforests in the Buller region have been adjusted to end on July 31, Mr Kirkland said.

Expiry dates were to have been in March, May and June. Five sales were involved. “The sales have all been brought to a common expiry date to give the two companies most affected some additional time regarding future operations. “It will also allow the Government time to determine future forest management policies for the region, after consultation with interested parties.” Government policy was to move towards sustained yield production on the West Coast, and future decisions on State indigenous log sales would allow for proposals for ecological reserves in the region’s forests, he said.